A courtroom sketch of Luka Rocco Magnotta at a hearing last week. Photo: AFP

A Canadian former porn actor accused of murdering and dismembering a Chinese man collapsed in court on Tuesday while evidence was presented against him, witnesses and his lawyer said.

Luka Rocco Magnotta, 30, asked for a break in the preliminary hearing, during in which a judge must decide if there is enough evidence for a trial, then stood up and collapsed on the courtroom floor.

His lawyer Luc Leclair said Magnotta was “not feeling well” and was not able to continue. Proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday when Magnotta was expected to return after resting, he added.

The so-called Canadian Psycho has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges, including committing indignities to a body and harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Police have said the man, who had worked as a gay porn actor and sex worker, used an ice pick to stab his 33-year-old victim before carving up his body, sexually abusing the corpse, filming the act and posting the video online.

Days after the killing, police discovered the victim’s torso in a suitcase by the trash outside an apartment along a busy highway in Montreal.

His severed hands and feet were sent through the mail to federal political parties in Ottawa and to two schools in Vancouver. The head was found in a Montreal park months later.

The media dubbed Magnotta the “Canadian Psycho” after it was discovered that the soundtrack from the movie “American Psycho” was playing in the background of a video of the alleged murder that was posted online.